


I keep forgetting something

by letterword



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-17 22:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9348458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letterword/pseuds/letterword
Summary: The one where neither has dementia, but Bernie keeps forgetting something at Serena's place.





	1. Chapter 1

First time Serena saw the sunglasses, she thought they were hilarious. Ray ban wayfarers, sitting on Bernie’s face. She’d offered Serena a lift from work, because her car broke down, and Serena suggested she should stay for diner, that was the least she could do for her. Jason was visiting Alan and she would be spending the evening alone. Eventually Bernie mumbled her ‘ok’. They spent the lovely summer afternoon and evening together, making dinner, dinning and then chatting over a glass of wine. 

Serena knew about Bernie’s divorce, her affair, but she was not bothered by it anymore. She was the master of take-it-to-the-grave grudges, especially when it came to cheaters. But with Bernie that was not the case. She felt she connected with her from the ‘engine been growling or whining’, and they were slowly building and sometimes demolishing their friendship from then on.  
There was a lot of firsts that afternoon: first time they shared a ride, first time Serena invited Bernie to her house and first time she’d seen the sunglasses. And there was another first. And now Bernie said good night and went back to her flat, but she forgot her sunglasses. Serena took them and put them on, looked at herself in the mirror. “Nah, they look much better on her.” She flinched when she realised she has said those words out loud, and because that was the moment she figured out the reason she didn’t hold a grudge against her. She liked her. Good god. 

She took out the phone out of her pocket.

_You forgot your sunglasses. X_

__  
Pacing around the flat, staring at the phone, Bernie had no idea how to respond. She realised she left the glasses at Serena’s, well, to be honest, she knew the moment she stepped outside that the glasses were still on the counter in the kitchen. But, well. And she didn’t leave them there on purpose, thankyouverymuch, she forgot them intentionally. She finally responded to the message:

_Shit, I knew I forgot something. I’ll come and pick them up tomorrow. X_

Here was the thing. Tomorrow she was off work, and Serena was on the morning shift. And she will show up on her doorstep with a nice bottle of Shiraz as a thank you for her kindness, trade it for sunglasses and return back home. It has nothing to do with the butterflies and the mumbling and the general signs of her being head over heels in love with the very cute and nice and adorable and hot and kind Serena. None what so ever. Her phone buzzed again:

_See you tomorrow then. Good night X_

She kept pacing around the flat, she replied with a simple ‘Good night x’, and kept thinking about Serena, about this evening. Has she ever felt like this? The rush, the inability of forming proper words, her heart beating like crazy? With Marcus? Nah, don’t want to go there, Alex was something else. Exciting, probably the first time she was true to herself, but she was blown away, and she promised to try again, but it was all in vain, it caused nothing but pain. She made friends with Serena, and now she was in love with her, but she was scared, because 1st: she was a cheater (and Serena had no patience for those), and 2nd: she was straight. There is too much pain, falling for a straight woman. She had to make a plan. She will go there, shove the wine into her arms and take the glasses and say goodbye and go. She might kiss her, a small ‘thank you’ peck on the cheek, but is that actually a thing? Should she push her luck and just go full snog mode on her? No no, she is straight and that would make time spent in the shared office a living hell. Shoot, what should she do? She had an idea.

She took a long shower to calm her thoughts and headed to bed. Her dreams were filled with visions of a beautiful brunette. 

__

Bernie was standing on Serena’s doorstep, shifting from one foot to the other, nervous, with a bottle of wine, very nicely wrapped (she asked the clerk at the store to do it for her, she was terrible at wrapping). Three deep breaths and she pressed the doorbell and waited.  
Serena opened the door, wearing the glasses, and every single word Bernie wanted to say, just vanished from her brain, and she burst in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.  
“I thought you found those silly,” she said as she was catching her breath, and Serena just answered calmly “They are, but they are very good, I think I might keep them.”  
“You sure?” Bernie said, finally getting over the laughter, now staring at Serena. The glasses fitted her perfectly, and she suddenly felt the urge to slowly take the glasses from Serena. And she did. She reached to Serena’s face and slowly took them off, smiled when she looked up and saw Serena staring directly at her.  
“Hey!” Serena said in mock shock and smiled, still feeling the gentle brush of Bernie’s hand on her cheek.  
“Sorry … I just wanted to ask you, if I may trade those for this?” Bernie handed her the bottle.  
Serena took it, and smiled again, “come in, let’s see what’s in there” and slammed the door, and the two moved to the kitchen counter and opened the bottle of wine. Bernie asked if she could borrow Serena’s charger, so she plugged the phone. After returning to the counter she fumbled with her glass and tried to start a conversation  
“So, how was work?” she was disappointed with herself, she had no idea what to say to her, yesterday everything was so relaxed, and now she was there again and she felt electricity in the air, and she noticed Serena was acting a bit strange.  
“It was good, well boring, just a pile of paperwork and a few easy procedures. It was weird being there alone without you” Serena blushed slightly  
“Really?”  
“Well, I’ve got used to your helping hands on AAU” she looked at Bernie’s hands and took a long gulp of the wine.  
“Oh, yeah, ok.”  
A weird and slightly uncomfortable silence followed. Bernie downed her wine and announced she should probably go, because she has a thing later (she did not have a thing later). And Serena walked her to the door, and when saying goodbye she leaned in and kissed Bernie on the cheek. Bernie felt the heat creep up her neck, she smiled and turned around and started walking away. As soon as she heard the door close she thought ‘Fuck, my phone.’ She walked back to the door, and as soon she stepped on the doorstep the door swung open, Serena stopping in her tracks “BEEERN… oh you are here.”  
“Yes, I forgot my phone didn’t I.”  
Serena handed her the phone. “Forgot anything else?”  
“Actually, yes … ” It was now or never. She caught Serena’s hand in hers and kissed her on the cheek. She pulled herself back, not letting go of her hand. Serena’s eyes tracked Bernie’s lips and before she knew, Serena pulled her close and snogged her. On the doorstep. 

They broke the kiss and they both smiled.  
Serena’s thoughts were ‘I could get used to this’ while Bernie’s were ‘Oh. My. God. That just happened.’


	2. Wolfe kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward fluff

They let go of each other’s lips with the hint of a tiny smile spreading across their cheeks.  
“So, thanks for the phone,” Bernie says staring at the ground, biting her lip.  
“My pleasure,” Bernie smirks at Serena with a raised eyebrow. “So, se-e you at-at wo-work tomorrow, goodnight.” Serena turned around, went inside and facepalmed herself majestically. 

She was internally cursing herself for not asking Bernie to stay, and for leaving the doorstep the first moment possible. That was so not her. The shameless flirt was left stuttering and blushing after kissing Berenice bloody Wolfe. Maybe it was contagious? But she kissed her and it was all right. It was a good start.  


Bernie was lost in thoughts on her drive home. In one night she got a kiss from her crush and the door slammed in her face. Well, better both than just the door part. It was a good start. 

___

Next morning Bernie started her shift before Serena, so she was already in theatre by the time Serena arrived. Once she was finished with her surgery she returned to her office. There she found a cup of coffee sitting on the desk, with a post it note: ‘careful, strong and hot!’  
The coffee was already cold but, you know what they say … Cold coffee for beauty.  
They kept missing on each other, but Bernie made sure she brought a chocolate croissant from pulses and left it on Serena’s desk before she went back into surgery. 

It wasn’t until evening, when Bernie was finishing her paperwork for the day that Serena entered the office.  
“Thanks for the coffee,” Bernie said with a smile.  
“My … no biggie. Thanks for the croissant,” Serena rolled her eyes at herself.  
Bernie stood up and stepped closer: “Serena, we should talk.”  
“This is just what I was afraid of …” Serena lowered her gaze.  
“What?” Bernie frowned and took a step back.  
“You think it was a mistake?”  
“God, nobody said that. If you think this was a mistake please tell me. I felt so right after you kissed me, like never before.” Blonde started explaining herself and waggling her hands to support her statement.  
“do … do … do you like me?” Serena looked her with her big eyes sparkling.  
“Do you like me?” Bernie knew that a question was not how to answer, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.  
“God, I don’t know, I just felt this urge to reach out to you, I wasn’t thinking, but it felt so right and now I am scared…”  
She saw that Bernie started panicking, just from the puzzled look in her eyes, which would not meet hers.  
“I figured out yesterday. You are a friend. And I’ve never felt like this towards a friend before. I do like you.”  
“Well good then …” Bernie smiled.  
“But you didn’t answer my question, did you?”  
“God Serena, I like you, my head goes crazy when I see you. Oh my god. I can’t form words properly when I am with you. You probably noticed that …”  
Serena smiled “I think it’s contagious …”  
“Maybe we should check with the World Health Organisation?”  
“Maybe you should take me to diner?” Brunette stepped closer.  
“What if you kissed me again?” Blonde rested her hand on Serena’s cheek, standing only inches apart. And they kissed again. A gentle kiss filled with need, quiet moans and tiny smiles.  
“Tomorrow” Bernie broke the kiss, “I’ll pick you up at 7:30. And I am sorry, I have to go now, I’m meeting Cameron.”  
“Ok,” Serena was shifting her weight from foot to foot, nervous in anticipation of tomorrow’s date, smiling at Bernie who was collecting her purse and coat. She opened the door and smiled her with a simple goodbye and left the office. 

Serena slumped down in her chair when she noticed something on Bernie’s desk. In less than 5 minutes Bernie stormed back into the office “MY KEYS!” Serena just smiled and nodded in the direction of the keys. “Forgot anything else?” She smirked.  
Bernie smiled, leaned down and planted a tiny kiss to Serena’s cheek.

That’s the moment Serena realised, that she should ask that question every time before Bernie leaves. I mean, it saves time and who could resist tiny Wolfe kisses?


End file.
